FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 05/29/2024
For further information, contact:
Susan Scully Petroni
City of Framingham Public Information Officer
spetroni@framinghamma.gov
508-782-8629
MassDEP To Hold Public Meeting June 4 on Former General Chemical Site
FRAMINGHAM – Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) will host an in-person public meeting regarding the former General Chemical Corporation site at 133-135 Leland Street in Framingham this month.
The meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 4 at Harmony Grove Elementary School at 169 Leland Street from 7 to 9 p.m.
Spanish and Portuguese translators will be available.
MassDEP will provide updates on cleanup work at the former General Chemical site, discuss planned demolition of a warehouse building, and answer questions from residents in the neighborhood.
MassDEP is sending this update regarding the continuing cleanup work at the former General Chemical site in Framingham. Thanks to the efforts of Senate President Karen Spilka, additional funding was secured through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to conduct additional cleanup at the site.
In 2021, MassDEP and its contractors installed and operated a thermal treatment
system at two specific locations on the former General Chemical site in Framingham. The goal of the thermal treatment system was to heat the ground to vaporize the chemicals that had been spilled or discharged at those locations and collect the chemicals for removal. By December of 2021, the treatment system was shut off and the system was dismantled. The cleanup operation was very successful and for those two areas removed a total of 4,000 pounds of the chlorinated volatile organic compounds (“CVOCs”) that were the target of the cleanup.
The goal of the initial cleanup operation was to remove as much contaminant mass as possible with the amount of funds that MassDEP seized from the “Financial Assurance Mechanism” funded by General Chemical. With the additional ARPA funding, MassDEP and its contractor (“TRC”) will likely be installing a new thermal treatment system on the General Chemical property in other areas where CVOCs are present at elevated concentrations in soil and groundwater.
MassDEP has been working with its contractor to prepare the site for further thermal treatment operations, including the following:
- Conducting geophysical and utility surveys to identify subsurface infrastructure
that could interfere with the testing and remediation of soil and groundwater;
- Advancement of probes into the ground to screen for elevated concentrations of
CVOCs to determine where to install new sampling locations;
- Installation of borings/monitoring wells in order to obtain samples from soil and
groundwater;
- Collection and analysis of soil and groundwater samples to measure pre-remedial
contaminant concentrations;
* Preparation of a demolition bid package for the removal of the warehouse;
- Review of bids for the demolition project. Removal of the warehouse will allow MassDEP to identify soil and groundwater contamination within the warehouse
footprint and allow access for subsequent cleanup work in that area.
Upcoming Activities for 2024 and 2025:
- Demolition of warehouse pending an access agreement with the Trinity General
Corporation. The estimated schedule for demolition is early summer of 2024;
- After building demolition, conduct an additional soil and groundwater
investigation to characterize contamination within the warehouse footprint. The
estimated schedule for the additional investigation is late summer/early fall 2024;
- Continue work on the preliminary remedial design of the thermal treatment
system. The design will incorporate the recent testing results in order to optimize removal of contaminants.
The estimated schedule for the Remedial Design Bid Package is early 2025 with remediation activities estimated to begin in spring 2025.
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